Category: climate change

Investors should monitor this closely as the prospect of any reduction or even elimination of these subsidies will have a critical impact not just on fossil fuel companies but throughout the economy. It is important for investors to make sure corporate boards are considering these risks — and opportunities — in their strategic planning. The…

It is vital for investors to be aware of these subsidies, which distort traditional reporting of risk and return. The United States has spent more subsidizing fossil fuels in recent years than it has on defense spending, according to a new report from the International Monetary Fund. The IMF found that direct and indirect subsidies…

They can run, but they can’t hide. Efforts by ExxonMobil to squelch shareholder initiatives on climate change have led to escalation, including a high-visibility call to withhold votes for the nominees for the company’s board. Directors at Exxon Mobil Corp. are facing a withhold campaign from two institutional shareholders alleging the energy company has failed…

After historic floods devastated Midwestern agricultural states this spring, some fund managers are evaluating how climate change will affect the long-term value of companies that make or sell products ranging from tractors to fertilizer. The issue is not simply the unpredictability of weather. Instead, fund managers say, they are struggling to model how extreme weather…

Majority Action is calling on Dominion Energy to appoint an independent board chair because “the board’s composition and the qualifications and outside connections of board members in key leadership positions call into question whether the board is well-positioned to provide independent oversight.” Proxy advisory firm ISS has recommended a vote in favor of the resolution….

This message is even more important for businesses as they consider every element of their strategic plans and risk management: The Environmental Protection Agency published a 150-page document this past week with a straightforward message for coping with the fallout from natural disasters across the country: Start planning for the fact that climate change is…

The Securities and Exchange Commission has allowed Exxon Mobil to block a shareholder proposal requiring the oil giant to set targets to substantially reduce its greenhouse gas emissions. The proposal called for the company to disclose greenhouse gas targets aligned with the 2015 Paris climate agreement effort to keep average global temperature increases to well…

For more than 20 years, large companies have been ramping up the depth and breadth of their disclosure on GHG emissions. At the same time, the amount of forward-looking financial information on climate risks and the opportunities being provided to investors has been patchy at best. But in the short time since July 2017, following…

VEA Vice Chair Nell Minow is quoted in this article about the disconnect between what fossil fuel companies tell their investors and customers they believe on climate change and what they actually do. The world’s largest oil companies, including Exxon, Shell, Chevron, ConocoPhillips and BP, are responding to that pressure in varying degrees. Some are…

Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) received nearly $50,000 in campaign donations last quarter from the Texas oil and gas industry, a number more than five times the amount in donations she received from Maine residents.<P><P>In the first quarter of the 2019 funding year, the senator, who is up for reelection in 2020, snagged roughly $49,300 from…